How many of you collect guns from 1980 to the Present

[gizamo]

In reading many of the postings here, I'm left wondering if many of you have a focus on latter guns. There are more then a few folks currently doing so, but there doesn't seem to be active discussions going forward.

S&W collecting, in general, seems to have it's primary interest in the earlier guns. Much has been discussed of the history, developement, early engineering changes, scarcity of some models or outright rarity.

I'm pointing this out because I think the modern gun collectors have been somewhat shortchanged in this regard. There are many models that have been made in limited production or short runs that have very low numbers of units produced or highly unusual configurations. Some would see these as guns that will be highly sought out in the future. These guns are perhaps one of the best bargains available for someone willing to do the research. Many can be found with their original boxes and paperwork still intact.

I realize that in recent years, S&W has perhaps diluted it's gun lines with too many variations of each model...and that may be a double edged sword.

Guess what I'm getting to is this... The next generation of collectible S&W's are available now, at very reasonable prices. Some of these guns are as scarce or rare as any of the earlier models. And the average guy can find these bargains and build a reasonable collection of guns focused in their area of interest. Would love to see some discussions started in this sub-board to that effect.

So, how whose got a collection in this era started, and what are you focusing on...?

giz

 

[Nframe]

Giz, you show me yours and I'll show you mine..... hahaha

I had been gathering a good number of the later guns but there are so many and it got to a point that I couldn't get them all and realized I was tired of what I had so most all are now gone. I think I have 4 stainless guns and around the same # of blued ones of various vintage.

Now 1911's, thats another story...

 

[gizamo]

Chris,

My point exactly. It's hard to build focus on the modern guns, to the point that you can build a collection. It's much harder to accomplish then the earlier guns, and that may be why few have focused in this area.

But that lack of focus, takes the competitive pressure off. So there are some pretty scarce/rare S&W's on the market right now. There are some bargains out there...

giz

 

[peyton]

I think the issue with the internal lock reduces the number of S&W's that are bought or discussed here. I did not realize the issue existed until I joined this forum. Having said that, all but two of my revolvers were made recently. Only two out of that bunch have the lock. My son bought a 332 in 32 mag and did not know what those keys in the box were for!! He has shot it and it does great. I told him to keep it out of reach of his kids, and not to trust the lock to keep it from firing. So many people discuss the lock keeping the revolver from firing. What is the frequency of the lock keeping it safe??

 

[gizamo]

Peyton,

Not to derail your post...Last thing I want is to turn this into a IL discussion. Not that I disagree with any of your points.

I wish there was a way to separate the time the time lines to before and after the IL. But that would need a separate sub-forum.

So please folks, can we leave the IL debate out of this thread...it's not the focus on the discusssion I was aiming for...

giz

 

[Revolver King]

All of my revolvers are in this class and some even have those locks. I have around 18 in all, and they all stainless. Here are a couple I am proud of.

 

[David LaPell]

I have one from the 1980's to now-my 624

 

[gunlovingirl]

Giz, you show me yours and I'll show you mine..... hahaha

...

This could be a very interesting thread! I believe I'll keep an eye on this one!

 

[Stainz]

I 'collect' what I shoot. I have one from '96, the rest are '01 or later - most now with the IL.

Stainz

 

[holo]

I ONLY HAVE A FEW BUT TRY TO PICK A NEW ONE EVERY YEAR. MY GOAL IS ALWAYS TO STAY AWAY FROM THE "LOCK". I LIKE THE STAINLESS MODELS MUCH BETTER THAN BLUED, AND I ALWAYS TRY TO FIND ONE THAT IS UNIQUE IN SOME WAY. LIMITED EDT. UNFLUTED CYL. OR LOW PRODUCTION RUN.

 

[buckeyeshooter1]

As I started shooting in the late 70's and attained 'legal' purchasing age in 1980, the majority of my guns are 80 and newer. I do have some older guns bought used however, the bulk of my NIB collection is from the 80's. I stopped buying S & W's when the N frame went to round butt manufacture and only started buying new guns again when the square butt returned.

 

[pred]

If I can project into the future I see many 340 Sc/Pds with only 5 rounds shot through them.
It will be interesting to see what come to be with the lock guns.
I have bought a few from the 80+ time frame in the past year, 2 are 3",, one a 629 the other 624, Love them both, While not of the same old world craftsmanship, They are both great guns!
And funny thing is, I bought a 66-2 for real cheap just because I was there at the right time, I have no use for it and I thought 300 was a real fair price, It's a 6"er, Not very collectable, It surprises me to see what they are selling for here and on GB,,, Next collectable?
I would not have thought.
Peter

 

[Cocked & Locked]

I don't "collect" anything from any era. I do have a few S&W's from 1980 up that I really like though...none with the lock.

60-1

642-1

29-3

627-PC

629-5

 

[sw357nm]

Modern Guns

While I mainly focus on pre-1961 large frame revolvers I do like many more modern guns as well. I really like the stainless for its ease of maintenance.
John

 

[Nygma]

In the past, my collection actually focused on pre-lock, stainless, target sighted revolvers with 4" barrels. After pretty much filling in the gaps with a complete set of Mountain Guns, and the scarce ones like the no-lug 617s, I began to branch out into other barrel lengths and materials. I shoot quite a bit and still prefer stainless guns though.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Aside from my 27's and 520, I concentrate on Stainless firing pin on the hammer Smiths.

 

[Engine49guy]

Post 80 should be post 82.

Giz I know your focus is post 1980 guns as tomorrows collectables.
I like the fact that a new gun is readily available with all the factory accessories NIB.

Currently I do not own anything post IL, I do however own several post 1980 guns.
If an IL gun deal falls my way I wouldnt hesitate to buy it, especially a PC gun.

Im not sure why the last forum begins in 1980.
S&W stopped pinning barrels in 1982 and I think that is a cornerstone in product change.

If you were to have posted "How many here collect non cylinder counterbored guns,
It would sound bizarre even though it is important because it is not as readily a recognized feature as a barrel pin.

Although my passion is for pre 68 diamonnd magna guns and "Pre" models, I have quite a few post 1980 models that I have "collected",
Some are even P&R pre 1982.

A few of my favorite post 1980 guns are the, 36 - 1, 3" Heavy barrel, 29-3 and 24-3 Lew Horton snubs, 36-3, 649-2, 586, 29-3, and a post 1980 Model 28-2 HP.
Cheers

 

[Andy Griffith]

I've always been partial to model 10's, and I've tried to collect one of each change, which of course includes the modern ones.

Some of the modern ones have smaller runs than that of the older ones, such as the redoux of the "Model 1899" and the other "pre-heritage" series in the 10-6, 10-7 and 10-8.

The other modern 10 series can be hard to procure simply because there are very few of them sold comparatively to those of previous times and their higher price when new. Because there are few sold new, there will be fewer found on the secondary market.

Other than that, I buy what I like and what I want- whether it is new or old.
I just try to stay away from those "hartford horsey logo" guns.

 

[s&wchad]

I embrace diversity

I've somehow managed to accumulate fifteen S&W's made after 1980. That was never a conscious goal of mine, it just somehow happened. Two I've never fired, two take a key and one was even purchased new (rare for me). I don't have the discipline, patience, resources or desire to focus my accumulation on a specific theme, I just buy what I like if the price seems right at the time. I guess if I had to put a theme to my guns, it would be American sporting arms with some foreign and military thrown in!
Some of the guns made by S&W since Regan became President are revolutionary in their design and construction and they're pretty darn cool too.

 

[woodsltc]

Im not sure why the last forum begins in 1980.
S&W stopped pinning barrels in 1982 and I think that is a cornerstone in product change.

Engine, notice that the heading for the forum references L-Frames. The L-Frames began in 1980....my guess is that is why this forum begins in 1980 instead of 1982.

Giz, I'm not really a collector...........I guess I'm more of an accumulator. That said almost all of my S&W's are pre-1980, but I have accumulated a couple of early 1980's No Dash M-586's, a couple of late 1980's 3" M-13's and one M29-6 that dates from 1998. I'm just not interested in any S&W's that are newer.............I won't go into my reasons out respect of your request that this thread not turn into a discussion on "the lock".

I'm glad you started this thread..........it's interesting to see what people are looking for in this time period.

Don